Purposeful Innovation: How Engineering Firms Can Use AI & Emerging Tech for Smarter Project Management

Engineering and consulting firms today face an exciting, albeit demanding, landscape. The pace of projects is accelerating. Budgets are under pressure. Clients expect more - faster, better, and with greater transparency. At the same time, the market is brimming with promises that AI, automation, and emerging technologies will revolutionize the project lifecycle and remove many of these pressures.

This creates a unique opportunity for firms ready to embrace purposeful innovation where technology is a strategic driver in enhancing service delivery, improve profitability, and enable smarter, more sustainable operations.

Silversoft’s Jacques du Buisson and Deltek’s Bret Tushaus recently came together to discuss how firms can approach this evolution pragmatically. Drawing from extensive work with engineering and consulting firms globally, they highlighted the practical steps firms can take today to ensure they are set up to succeed, not just by adopting new technologies, but by laying the operational groundwork needed to make those technologies work for them perpetually.

This article captures the key insights from that discussion and outlines the three critical priorities engineering firms should focus on to ensure AI and emerging tech become enablers of smarter, forward looking and more profitable practice management, rather than drivers of added complexity.

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🎥 Watch the full recording.

Priority 1: Strengthen the Foundations to Enable Smarter Innovation

While technology presents significant opportunities, its benefits are only fully realised when built on solid operational foundations. Many firms are already taking steps to modernize their delivery models, implement more connected systems, and improve data quality, but there is still progress to be made.

Firms face increasing project complexity, tighter margins, and escalating client expectations. These pressures highlight the importance of having reliable data, standardized project processes, and clear visibility into resource and financial performance. Without these essentials in place, introducing AI or automation risks becoming an added layer of complexity that doesn’t address the core challenges.  As Bret Tushaus noted during the session, the firms seeing real progress aren’t chasing AI in isolation. “You have to balance and understand people, process and technology,” he said. “You can't focus on just one.” Without that alignment, even advanced tools struggle to deliver impact.

AI and emerging technologies should be seen as tools that amplify existing strengths, not as quick fixes for underlying inefficiencies. When project delivery is already disciplined, and when data flows seamlessly across the organization, technology can accelerate decision-making, improve forecasting, and enable teams to work in unprecedented ways.

The 2025 Deltek Clarity A&E Industry Study supports this, showing that firms that focus on operational maturity are better prepared to use technology as a driver of competitive advantage.

Jacques du Buisson shared one of the report’s most telling findings: “Most professional service firms had already achieved a level of digital maturity they didn’t expect until 2027.” That acceleration in capability raises the stakes and the expectations.  He also highlighted a key data point from the Clarity report: “78% of firms expect to lose market share within 2 years if they fail to make significant progress in digital transformation.” The pace of innovation is no longer a choice - it’s a condition for survival. Yet the most impactful transformations start internally, with process discipline, data quality, and project visibility before extending into technology-led innovation.

Firms that see operational readiness as a strategic investment, not just a back-office function, are positioning themselves for resilience, agility, and growth. The Clarity report shows that firms with higher digital maturity are more confident about profitability and 82% say successful AI implementation has already increased profits. The Clarity study confirms that over one third of such firms are more profitable since they have adopted such an approach.

Priority 2: Purposeful Innovation, Not Technology for Technology’s Sake

Technology adoption works best when it’s guided by a clear purpose and tied to tangible business goals. Forward-thinking firms are moving away from trend-driven tools and instead asking sharper questions: where can technology genuinely improve how we work?

As Bret Tushaus put it during the session: “When a firm asks me, where do I start with innovation? My answer always includes: get the fundamentals right, create systems and processes that reflect how your projects actually work, ensure your people are equipped to use them effectively. And then, lastly, focus on data quality.”

This grounded approach helps firms use AI and automation as amplifiers of strong systems,  not patchwork for weak ones.

Jacques du Buisson echoed this, emphasizing the need to treat innovation as an extension of operational thinking: “Once you've got the fundamentals in place, you need to understand what you're doing with the inputs into that lifecycle and what outputs you're expecting to drive smarter decision-making.”

The latest Clarity data shows that many firms have accelerated their digital maturity to levels they didn’t expect to reach until 2027 — all within the last 12 months.
This reflects both the urgency and opportunity firms are embracing. But those seeing the strongest returns are the ones who have approached innovation with purpose, clarity, and discipline.

Purposeful innovation ensures technology such as AI is used to enable smarter project management, not add layers of complexity.

Bret and Jacques also shared tangible examples of where firms are already gaining value through targeted, practical use cases:

• Matching engineers to projects using AI based on workload, skillsets, and interests, improving both delivery and retention
• Using real-time dashboards to flag budget or schedule variances before they escalate
• Navigating regional compliance and building code requirements using AI-powered knowledge tools
• Reducing admin load by automating routine internal reports and updates

These use cases are delivering meaningful improvements in how firms plan, staff, monitor, and report on projects. They reflect a shift toward more deliberate, context-aware technology adoption, rooted in operational clarity and supported by trusted data.

Priority 3: The Firms That Act Now Will Lead the Next Five Years

The outlook for firms that embrace operational discipline, and purposeful innovation is extremely promising.

Those who act decisively are already positioning themselves to respond to client demands with greater agility and confidence, using AI to accelerate this. They are optimizing their teams' utilization, protecting project margins, and leveraging AI and automation to drive smarter, more proactive decision-making.

Technology, when built on solid operational foundations, is enabling these firms to:

• Improve forecasting and resource planning.
• Enhance visibility into project health and profitability in real-time.
• Streamline collaboration between teams and clients.
• Free up time for higher-value strategic activities by automating routine tasks.
• Enhance each stage of the project lifecycle from winning business to billing

The Clarity data Reinforces that the firms who prioritize these areas now are setting themselves up to lead in the next five years.

While the pace of transformation is accelerating, firms who align their internal operations and technology roadmaps today will be able to differentiate themselves in the market, attract top talent, and deliver superior client experiences.

Conversely, firms that delay or approach innovation reactively may find it increasingly challenging to keep up with evolving client expectations, technology standards, and industry benchmarks.

By focusing on operational excellence first and approaching innovation with discipline and clarity, firms can create a more agile, profitable, and future-ready project management model, one that’s built to thrive in an increasingly digital, data-driven industry.

Conclusion: Operational Readiness is the Differentiator of the Next Era

AI, automation, and emerging technologies are set to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of engineering and consulting services. But the firms that will unlock their full potential are those that treat technology as an enabler, one that builds on operational discipline, data quality, and delivery excellence.

Firms that prioritize these foundations will be better positioned to use technology as a catalyst for profitable growth, smarter project management, and exceptional client service.

For those looking to benchmark their current position and explore how they compare to their peers, the 2025 Deltek Clarity A&E Industry Study provides essential insights and industry benchmarks  

You can also explore these themes further in the full conversation with Jacques du Buisson and Bret Tushaus here: 🎥 Watch the full recording.

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